Battle of Wittstock

The Battle of Wittstock occurred on 4 October 1636 during the Thirty Years' War. The Swedish army of Johan Baner defeated a combined Imperial-Saxon army and effectively eliminated Brandenburg from the war.

Background
Although the Protestants and Catholics had agreed to the Peace of Prague in 1635, temporarily ending the Thirty Years' War, Sweden maintained its bridgehead in Germany rather than cut its losses and withdraw its troops. On 20 May 1636, Sweden and France signed the Treaty of Wismar, uniting their armies against the Habsburgs, and, in September, the Swedish general Johan Baner began to advance down the Elbe River with 17,000 troops.

Battle
The Imperial-Saxon army positioned itself on several sandy hills and planned for the Swedes to advance down the open fields in front of them, but the Swedes instead turned the Imperial left flank. The Swedes attacking the Imperial right flank suffered heavy casualties while navigating a difficult traverse, but they were able to relieve Baner in time for the Swedish cavalry to outflank the Imperial troops and rout them. The battle was a dire loss for the Empire and effectively eliminated the devastated Brandenburg from the war.